The daily herald. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1886-1887, 1887-02-15

steadily among the natives. The for
eigners catch it sometimes. 1t is a
great mistake, however, to suppose, as
most people do, that the disease is con-
tagious. 1t can be communicated
from one person to another only by
contact and an actual transmission Of
virus, as by a wound or a sore. have
treated thousands of lepers, been with
them when they died, visited the leper
hospital on the island, and ate the food
prepared for leper palates by leper
hands. ] have handled living and
dead lepers with impunity, and so have
hundreds of other Caucasians. On the
other hand, hundreds Of white men
have been infected by the disease in
the way that l have named and have
died the most horrible and oathsome
Of deaths.
81 shall never forget have the
strongest cause to remember--an expe
rience once had that put all the gray
hairs into my head and the crow's-ieet
into my face that you can discover l
was called one day to attend wealthy
patient suffering from leprosy, who had
by reason Of his wealth escaped being
sent to the island with other victims.
The disease had reached a stage where
the surgeons knife could be used to
prolong life somewhat attended
and amputated the patients leg. AS
was washing my hands after the opera
ton, / made a discovery that drove
my blood into frozen Jumps around my
heart. In some way or other ] had
managed to cut the forehnger Of my
right hand with my knife That was
the finger l had used the most in re-
moving the affected limb and tying the
diseased ligature. The merest scratch
with pin under those circumstances
would result in infection. had not
the slightest doubt that had contract
ed the disease. The full horror Of that
consciousness is beyond description.
For days / was like a man in a stupor
My long familiarity with the horrible
tortures of leprosy, instead Of dulling
my sensibilities, only magnified my
realization Of my fate and the distress
ing sights | had seen crowded upon me
like nightmare. My wife at length
surmised the cause Of my changed be-
havior, and wrung the truth from me.
She understood the terors of the cal.
amity that had fallen upon me as fully
as | did. There was nothing to be
done but face the situation as bravely
as we could. 1t would be full year
before the disease began to manifest
ITSELF We determined that we would
spend that year as happily as we could
in each others company. AT the first
manifestation of the disease l would
kill myself The idea of living to
watch my own decay was something
not to be thought of for moment
We carefully debated all means o.
death, and this az last seemed best to
me: l would take a small boat and
row out in the harbor. Then | would
sit on the edge Of the gunwale, shoot
.s.,.s4ie .i---.'sts .fIS tcdu ana iail over
board. You probably think it strange
| did not prefer morphine, or some
other less violent means of death
There was no method OF ending human
existence that l did not carefully can
t vass and, of them all, chose thai
which l have described, because, il
was sure, speedy and painless.
81 think / lived ten years in the mex
twelve months. The condemned muir
derer usually faces death but a few
! weeks, and to the last cherishes hope
of a pardon, or reprieve, or new
trial. / looked the awful certainty o
death in the face for year, and knew
there was no chance of a reprieve from
my sentence. AS the year rolled
around nearly abandoned m,
. practice and devoted myself to the soci
ETY. Of my family and to watching 70
the first symptoms of the disease. Or
the day when it was just year from
t my exposure babe the family good-b,
and retired to my room to wait for tn,
expected symptoms. They didn't come
| waited patiently, day after day, with
out daring to hope, until finally thu
Y limit of time had been exhausted
: When ! knew there was no longer an,
chance that I had caught the diseas,
the joy came as near upsetting m,
mind as the terror had formerly.
don't know how l escaped--it wa
, little less than miracle; but it was
miracle that made family of people
wild with joy for long time" IN y
, Mail and Express
There is a rumor in Arizona that tn,
Southern Pacific Railroad will soon pu
t new timetable in operation which
will shorten the time seven and one
half hours between San Francisco and
New Orleans.
There was no drill of the Rifles las
night, as they are going to do witt
weekly drill on Thursdays for the pres
ent.